


Hit and Run

by nyanbacon



Category: BNA: Brand New Animal (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Anima-City, Attack, Blood, Bombing, Burns, Drabble, Explosions, Fire, Guns, Hurt Some Comfort, Nazuna is a good friend, One Shot, Unfinished, just a lil tho, shirou gives comfort, shirou is a good dad, theres a lot of death, will probably remain unfinished
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:26:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25565857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyanbacon/pseuds/nyanbacon
Summary: A year of peace has taken place since the fall of Alan Sylvasta, but now that Mayor Rose wants to have a festival celebrating the mingling of humans and beastmen, Shirou is wondering if this era of peace is going to hold up--This is a one shot of an AU I have thoughts about, but I probably won't make a full fic for it, so here's a little tidbit of my thoughts for it.--Here's a link to the comic that sparked this thought.--Now with some much-needed edits and a second chapter! Thanks to my beta VioletThePorama for proofreading.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 49





	1. Bullets, Bombs, and Blood

It had been a year since Mayor Rose had opened Anima-City up to beastmen and human exchange interactions. Things had been going... moderately. Those who volunteered to participate in the exchange, like students or visitors, were much more openminded than those who went in for business purposes. Even so, violence was at a lull, and Shirou had a lot more free time on his hands than he had in centuries.

It occurred to him, during this time, that he had never really developed hobbies. Ever since adopting the title of Silver Wolf all those years ago, he’d forgotten what it was like to do something other than his job.

Michiru tried to help at first. He had played basketball with her, but he was too fast. Without transforming (which she refused to do because that would be considered 'cheating'), she wasn't able to keep up with him. In fact, his need to win typically dominated any level of enjoyment he would have gleaned from sports. Michiru learned pretty quickly that anything competitive was more of a battle than it was a game.

They tried calmer activities after that- things that required craftsmanship and attention to detail- but they ran into different problems then. Michiru's hands were no longer small and nimble and couldn't achieve the level of detail she wanted. Meanwhile, Shirou had trouble sitting still for too long and grew anxious when there wasn't anything for him to do. 

In the end, the two of them helped Mayor Rose put in infrastructure, policies, and other various administration things that made the unification of the human and beastmen easier.

With increased policing, fights rarely happened (and most of the fighting that did take place was simply infighting among beastmen, a phenomenon that, unfortunately, had no treatment yet). Things were calm, and it made Shirou nervous and on edge. Nothing had ever been this calm.

Michiru enjoyed it immensely. She loved seeing all the hard work she put in working out for everyone, even if it meant that some hard compromises had to be made. Shirou found meetings stuffy and dull, but Mayor Rose always allowed him to go out in the field and see what was going on on an intimate level. How were beastmen reacting to humans? Were humans enjoying their time in Anima-City? Were there any fights? How were they being dealt with?

One year into the societal changes, Mayor Rose put together a festival akin to the one Michiru had experienced when she had first shown up in Anima-City. Despite Shirou's argument that it would be a massive security risk, Mayor Rose felt that it would boost morale and interest in the efforts. Unfortunately for Shirou's case, Michiru agreed with Mayor Rose.

The planning of the festival took two weeks, and Shirou stalked around, looking at the plans and scoffing whenever he saw something he didn't like. Which was often.

He had a scowl on his face when he left Mayor Rose's office two days before the festival. The look was what was left of their meeting, in which she had told him, in no uncertain terms, that the event would not be canceled. The closer the day got, the more anxiety welled in his stomach until even Michiru could tell he was tense. In the scope of things, it wasn't surprising. Michiru had gotten very good at determining his emotions. It still took him by surprise whenever she did it.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he left Mayor Rose's office behind and went to find Michiru. The sun was on its way to setting, marking the end of the second to last day before the festival, and Michiru was still hard at work.

He knocked on the door of the board room she was working in and opened it when she looked at him through the windows.

"Hi, Shirou!" She greeted, capping the whiteboard marker she was using. "Is it time to go?"

"Almost." he glanced at what she'd been drawing on. It was a map of the city, with a sheet of glass over it for drawing and erasing notes. What had been written was complete gibberish to him. "What's that?"

"Oh, this?" She pointed at the board with the end of her marker. He nodded. "This is the planning I have done for the security for the festival."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I knew you had been worried about making sure nothing went wrong, so I've done all that I can to make sure the city is protected."

He moved over to the board. "So, what do you have?"

Her ears perked when he seemed interested in her work. She turned to point at the different dots and circles. "Every green dot is a policeman. They'll be set up at every block corner so that the whole city is covered. There will be a team at the bridge doing security checks. Each stall along the main festival area will have security cameras set up. That was Mayor Rose's idea. That way, no one can get close to the stage like they were able to last time."

He nodded as she spoke, his shoulders relaxing. A lot of planning had gone into this. He was still nervous and would be until the festival was over, but Michiru had worked hard to make sure nothing would go wrong.

Shirou's nerves returned on the day of the festival. While Michiru enjoyed setting up decoration and preparing for the show Nazuna was putting on, Shirou wasn't able to be excited about that night's festivities.

People started arriving well before Nazuna's show was scheduled to start off the festival, so Shirou went to help out with security. Much to both his dismay and relief, nothing seemed amiss with any people traveling into the city. They were just coming to have a good time.

Shirou sat on a fire escape when the festival kicked off. Nazuna opened with a duet, sharing the song with a human Michiru said they had met on a visit to the mainland. After that, fireworks were shot off periodically into the sky already lit by shining spotlights. The stars were outshone by the artificial lighting, so Shirou could look at nothing but the crowd of people beneath him.

He turned his head as the door to the rooftop behind him opened. Michiru stepped out, pulling her jacket further around herself and walking over to stand beside Shirou.

"It's nice, isn't it?" She breathed softly.

He breathed a deep sigh. "Everyone is happy," was all he responded with.

She sat down beside him on the edge of the roof. He turned to watch, instinctively worried about her falling off the edge despite knowing she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

"Are you not?"

He was quiet and acutely aware of Michiru's gaze on him. "It's a lot of people in one place," he finally settled on.

"You know we did everything we could for security."

"Yeah." He closed his eyes. "I know."

A jet flew overhead, followed by two more. The sound was deafening with their proximity to them, and Shirou sighed exasperatedly.

"Jets? Really?" He looked at Michiru but paused at the look of alarm in her eyes as she stared after the planes.

"That wasn't part of the schedule."

The anxiety in Shirou's stomach exploded in a short of adrenaline, and he surged to his feet. He knew, deep down, there was no way to save all the people in the plaza below him, but maybe he could try.

"I'll call the mayor." Michiru shakily grabbed her phone.

"They weren't quiet,” Shirou grunted. "She probably already knows. Come on." He leaped down the fire escape. Michiru followed. Their combined weight made the flimsy metal structure shake, which attracted the crowd's attention.

"Get out of here!" Shirou roared. The humans, terrified at the sight of a large wolf barking orders, cowered into the crowd, while the beastmen looked confused.

Michiru landed on the ground beside him. "Those are hostile planes!" She shouted. "We don't know wh-"

A whistle captured the onlookers' attention before an explosion from across the plaza shook the building behind them. Shirou looked up in horror as the crowd panicked, screaming and running towards the exits. Flames erupted across three booths and began to spread around the outer edge of the plaza.

Shirou's ears flicked in the wake of the noise, before turning and following the crowd out towards the exit. If he didn't know better, he had a feeling someone would be there to try something dirty at the exits.

A bullet whizzed past his muzzle, and he dove into the crowd in the direction of the gunshot. Bullets were flying through the throng fast, driving them back into the firey plaza. Shirou sank his teeth into one of the human gunman's arm and threw them at the others, knocking them down. His ears pricked at another whistle before a second bomb hit the plaza. Shirou grimaced as grit flew in his eyes.

He'd known. He'd known this was a bad idea. The transition was still fresh, too fresh, and he knew that something like this would happen, but no one listened to him.

Two more bombs sounded from further in the city, where people had been sleeping instead of partying. Someone had to stop the jets.

From the stage on the other end of the plaza shot Nazuna, spreading her white wings and launching herself into the air towards one of the jets. Michiru followed her, as well as an albatross- Pingua, Shirou guessed. With the planes distracted, he turned to help the people in the plaza evacuate.

There were shooters stationed at every exit to the plaza. By the time Shirou got to each one, there was already a handful of dead strewn across the ground. The fire spreading around the festival decorations was making the plaza hot. It distracted him from every bullet that was embedded in his fur. The shooters were firing indiscriminately at both humans and beastmen, and the smell of their mixed blood confused his nose.

A bomb dropped onto a building not too far away, and Shirou turned his eyes once again to the sky to watch Nazuna fall down into the fires in the plaza. He roared and launched himself over the quelling crowd, pounding his paws across the flagstones and leaping into the blaze. He grabbed Nazuna by the arm and dragged her out of the flames, worried he was too late.

"Nazuna!" Michiru's voice was shrill as she landed on the ground some yards away. Her right wing was struggling to keep her afloat, and she stumbled over to the pink fox. When she got close enough, Shirou could smell her blood.

"Michiru--"

"Nazuna!" She shrieked, grabbing her and shaking her shoulders. Nazuna didn't stir. The sound of falling bombs and screaming people had become the only sound filling the night. Deep inside, Shirou knew he had lost.

"Michiru, come on." He set a paw on her back, but she shrugged him off.

"Just go." Her voice broke as she spat the words at him, avoiding eye contact.

His blood ran cold. "I can't. They'll--"

"You're the protector of beastmen, aren't you?!" She looked up at him. He went very still when he saw the tears rolling down her face. "It won't do you any good if you sit here with the two of us that aren't really beastmen. Go and help everyone evacuate."

He stared at her. She bowed her head and carefully cradled Nazuna to her chest with one arm. Her right arm didn't move from where it was pressed against her bloody side.

He turned and ran after the evacuating people, herding them towards the docks. There were a handful of boats available, initially ready for ferrying between Anima-City and the mainland. Now, escapees were boarding the ships in hoards.

Shirou leaped up onto a cargo ship to watch the crowd. From the looks of it, everyone there was running in fear. No one here had planned this.

He had put faith in Michiru's plan. In fact, it had almost worked.

Almost.

"Shirou!"

He turned at the sound of Nazuna's voice. She appeared to be supporting herself on her feet with the aid of her wings, her arms holding...

Michiru.

He leaped off the boxes clumsily and stumbled over, practically tearing Michiru from her grasp and holding her to his chest. The wound in her side was still bleeding. Burns marred the side of her face, and there was blood streaming from her forehead. Her knees were skinned.

"What happened?" He growled, his voice coming out more angry than concerned.

Nazuna's voice was shaking. "A bomb-- it dropped right by us. Michiru pushed me but-but-"

Damn it, Michiru. Always the sacrificial one.

He held the unconscious tanuki to his chest.

"We need to go," Nazuna murmured, reaching up to stroke Michiru's mused hair.

"We have to let the others get off first. They can't protect themselves." It pained Shirou to say it, but he was right. The three of them were more capable of taking care of themselves amidst the bombing than the other citizens.

"Did I hear someone needed a ride?" A voice from the shipping crates spoke. Nazuna and Shirou both turned to see Marie standing in the shadows.

Shirou scowled. "You should be helping others."

"Sorry, Silver," she cooed. "I only help friends, not strangers."

Shirou growled at the nickname, but Nazuna leaped at the offer.

"Where's your boat?"

"Down the harbor. It's risky to keep the ships together. More likely to be spotted and blown up." She sounded confident, but Shirou could see the fear in her eyes and how her ears were flat against her head. "Come on."

Shirou held Michiru tighter and followed Marie and Nazuna over to the boat. Inside was Gem and a sleeping Melissa. When Shirou got closer, he could smell more blood and watched as Gem pressed a rag to Melissa's shoulder.

Nazuna stepped into the boat and reached up to help Shirou lower Michiru onto one of the benches.

"Don't go towards the mainland," Shirou said as Marie started up the engine.

Marie turned to look at him with narrowed eyes. "And where do you suggest going, smartass? Around the island to the other side?"

A huff escaped Shirou's nostrils. "Go out around the city and take us to the forest by the highway."

Marie considered him before nodding. She started up the engine and pulled away from the dark part of the harbor. The ship veered the ship away from the island and out towards open waters. Shirou turned to watch the other ships make a beeline for the mainland and grimaced when a bomb dropped on one of them and took another out in the blast radius.

He'd failed. He'd failed, and there was no going back. He didn't have the capabilities or the funding to restore Anima-City. Those were ideas that were only possible if the land was even still usable and not claimed by legions of soldiers told to shoot beastmen on sight.

"Do you think she'll wake up?"

"Huh?" He turned to look at Nazuna. She was seated beside Michiru, running her human fingers through Michiru's hair.

"Michiru. Do you... think she'll wake up?" Nazuna moved her gaze from Shirou's face down to her friend. "She hit her head pretty hard..."

Shirou set his fingers to Michiru's neck. Her pulse beat weakly against the pads of his fingers.

"She'll be fine," he lied. "Probably just a concussion."

He moved to press his fingers to the wound in her side. He hadn't been able to get a good look at it before now. Upon pushing against it to see if he could feel a bullet, Michiru whined and shifted. Nazuna hushed her, cupping Michiru's hands in her face.

"It’s okay, Michiru," she cooed, her voice cracking. "You're okay."

Shirou surreptitiously pulled his hand away and looked out at the ocean. A silence fell over the boat.

"We'll split up when we reach the shore," Marie said, not looking back at the group. "It'll be safer for a few days if we aren't seen together."

"I'm staying with Michiru," Shirou said. "We can't leave her on her own."

Marie glanced back at him, frowning. "... right. Of course. Michiru will stay with Shirou, and Melissa and Gem will stick close to the ship."

"I might be able to go into the city to find help," Nazuna offered, but Shirou shook his head.

"It's too risky. You're the most likely to be recognized out of all of us."

"Go spend a day in the forest," Gem said. "Then you can come back to find Melissa and me. Her condition isn't as bad as Michiru's, so she should be fine to move in a day, maybe two. We can figure something out from there."

Marie nodded. "Two days, then, and then we'll come back here." She slowed the boat to a stop and leaped out to tie the rope to a tree stump on the bank. "Stay safe. Stay hidden. Good luck."

Shirou carefully hoisted Michiru onto his back and nodded to Marie as he stepped off the boat. Nazuna followed but veered off west. Marie stayed to help Gem and Melissa off the ship and to a nearby outcropping of rock.

Michiru's breath was soft and shallow against the back of his neck. He forced down the sick feeling in his stomach as he climbed up the hill into the forest.

He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he failed Michiru too.


	2. Where Is The Grass Greener?

Michiru's whole body ached when she stirred, the most prominent coming from her side. She couldn't quite recall what had happened, but her mind was groggy, and the grass under her wasn't making it any easier to remember.

Wait, grass? Why was there grass in her bed?

Her head pounded as she propped herself on an elbow. She groaned and dropped her forehead down to rest on the ground. A flash of white pain resounded from her forehead, and she hissed.

"Michiru."

Shirou's soft voice was grating on her ears. She shifted her head to stare up at him. A yellow light backlit him, and his white hair stood out against the inky night sky.

"Sh'rou...?" The word slurred on her tongue and just speaking made her feel exhausted.

"You're concussed," he said as if that was supposed to explain ANYTHING. "Come on. Sit up." He hooked an arm under hers and slowly hoisted her into a sitting position. Her head rolled forward and rested against his chest. She could feel him tense up a bit at the forced contact, but she was so tired.

"What happened?" 

He paused. "You don't remember?"

She reached up with her left arm and rubbed at her mused hair. "'s fuzzy."

He sat down on the grass in front of her, shielding the yellow light from her eyes. It was a brief relief before he was suddenly prying her eyes open to look at her pupils. "What're you doing?"

"Shush," he murmured, moving to the other eye. "There was an attack at the festival. You got hurt trying to save Nazuna."

Her gaze flickered away from his frown. "Nazuna... Nazuna!" Her tail shot up, and she grabbed Shirou's hands. Pain shot up from the hole in her side when she moved, but she didn't notice. "Is she okay?!"

He stared down at her. "She's fine now."

"Where is she?!"

"We split up."

"Split up?!"

"Would you hush?" He placed a gloved hand over Michiru's mouth. "We don't want anyone finding us right now."

She made a muffled noise of agreement and sat back down on the ground, reaching to press a hand to her side. The blood from the wound had dried and clotted in a sticky mass in her fur. It made her shirt cling to the injury. It would be a bitch to clean.

"Where are we?" She asked when Shirou finally removed his hand from her muzzle.

"The forest by the highway on the mainland."

She wiped her mouth on the back of the hand that wasn't covered in blood and cast a somewhat nostalgic glance at the surrounding forest. "I was ambushed here once. On my way to Anima-City."

Shirou let out a snort that may have either been of amusement or disapproval. "Well, I don't think you'll be getting jumped any time soon."

"Hope not." She moved to shift how she was sitting on her legs but hissed when it agitated her side.

Shirou reached out to lift her arm carefully so he could look at the wound. "What happened?"

"Ah..." She followed his gaze down to the spot, before looking away at the sight of blood. "There was a shooter left in the plaza. He was aiming for Nazuna, so I... took it."

A growl emanated from Shirou's throat. "Damn. I thought I'd gotten all of them."

"It's fine," she said with a weak smile. "I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"For now."

"Wha- what do you mean for now?!"

He placed his hand over her mouth again. "I mean, if it goes untreated for too much longer, it could get infected. If it does, we're going to have a much bigger problem than the destruction of Anima-City."

Something seemed to click in her head, and she slowly deflated, pulling her mouth away from Shirou's palm. "... is it gone?"

This made Shirou pause. He turned so Michiru could see the firelight. She shielded it with her eyes and followed his gaze up to the night sky. There were no clouds, and the stars were just visible past the towering trees.

"The smoke stopped a while ago." He was quiet. "Took a day for the fires to die down."

Michiru dropped her head into her hands. "I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I agreed to Mayor Rose's idea of the festival, despite everything you said about it being a security risk." Her voice was thick with emotion. "And now it's..."

Her chest ached. She knew how much protecting Anima-City meant to Shirou. It had been his whole life purpose. And now... now…

"You did everything you could."

"But it wasn't enough!"

He had moved to set a hand on her head, but her outburst made him recoil and look at her.

"I had everything... everything planned out from the ground standpoint, but I hadn't even thought of aerial attacks, which I should have, because I'm friends with Pingua, and he's a fucking albatross, his whole thing is flying!" Talking this much was exhausting. She sagged in on herself, moving to put pressure against her side. It ached, a constant stinging pain that throbbed when she moved too much.

"They're not all dead. There are still beastmen for me to protect."

It was a weak argument, and they both knew it, but it was something. Instead of protesting, Michiru simply leaned against Shirou's side and stared at the fire.

"... so how long have I been asleep?"

"A day."

"... how'd we get over here, anyway?"

"Marie's boat."

"She's going to want payment, you know."

"I think she knows we don't have much to give her."

"Mmm..." Michiru's eyes slipped closed.

"Hey." He nudged her. "You can't sleep."

"Why nooot?" She whined.

"Concussion."

She groaned and slowly settled in beside Shirou to watch the fire die, and the sunrise.

It was night again when she next remembered being awoken. Shirou gently shook her shoulder, jostling the hole in her side. She whined.

"Come on. We have to go meet with the others."

"Others...?" She asked groggily, letting Shirou pull her to her feet by her wrist.

"Nazuna will be there."

"Oh... Nazuna... hmmm..." She let herself be hoisted up onto Shirou's back so the two could duck and run through the forest at a moderate pace. The cold wind forced her awake, and she watched through half-lidded eyes as the trees blew past.

She was adequately awake by the time they got to the shore. Shirou carefully lowered her to the ground. When Michiru tried to stand, a spark of pain shot from her side, and her knees buckled, so she sat on the grassy beach.

Shirou crouched beside her and moved to look at the bullet hole. "... we need to treat this."

Michiru rubbed tears from her eyes. "We don't have anything to treat it with, though."

"Michiru? Shirou? Is that you?"

Michiru's ears perked before her head did when Melissa and Gem emerged from the treeline. Melissa's arm was wrapped in an improvised sling from some lakeside plant leaves.

"Melissa! Gem!" She reached up to give the two of them a hug. "You guys made it?"

"All in one piece," Gem chirped, before glancing at Melissa's shoulder. "Well, mostly."

Melissa slapped at him before crouching down in the sand beside Michiru. "How are you, dear?"

"I'm alright."

"She's hurt," Shirou interjected.

"Shirou!" Michiru shrieked.

"They deserve to know." He shrugged.

"It's alright." Gem patted the top of Michiru's head. "Not everyone made it out completely unscathed."

"Michiru!"

Michiru yelped as she was bowled to the side by a winged fox. She laughed amidst the pained tears as Nazuna hugged Michiru around the neck.

"You're okay!" Michiru cheered.

"Of course!" Nazuna sat back, pulling Michiru back into a sitting position. "Are you?"

Michiru gripped Nazuna's hands, glancing at the burns that lined her arms, legs, and face. "You don't look okay."

Nazuna's gaze flickered to the blood on the side of Michiru's shirt. "Neither do you." She moved to set a hand over the hole curiously, causing Michiru to flinch back. "Sorry."

"Did someone ask for medical supplies?" Marie smoothly asked as she strode in from the forest with a tote bag in her hands.

Nazuna looked over and then frowned. "Hey! I thought you said we couldn't go to the city!"

"I said  _ you _ couldn't go into the city, sweetheart," Marie corrected, handing Shirou's bag. "I'm only recognized by beastmen in Anima-City, and I have the best odds of getting supplies for cheap."

"You mean free?" Shirou asked.

Marie waved her hand. "Same difference, isn't it?"

"Lay back." Shirou set a hand on Michiru's shoulder, forcing her to lay back in the sand.

"What are you going to do?" Nazuna asked, sitting back as Michiru took a slow breath. 

"I need to get the bullet out of her side."

"Eh?!" Michiru sat up suddenly. "Isn't that going to hurt?!"

"Yes. Now lay down."

Michiru groaned pitifully and lay her head back in the sand. Nazuna gripped her left hand while Shirou moved her right arm so he could properly see the wound. Every movement hurt, and when he pushed against her side to find the entry point, she kicked her legs.

"Stay still."

He reached in to pry the bullet out of her side without any warning, and Michiru shrieked, writhing. Nazuna moved to keep Michiru's shoulders down, and the tanuki kicked at nothing instead.

Shirou pulled away quickly once he was able to remove the shrapnel he could find, and he handed it to Marie so she could give him an alcohol wipe instead. He started to clean at the matted fur, carefully pulling clumps of old and new blood away from the hole.

Michiru sobbed. It was enough of a noise to make Shirou pause before Marie nudged his shoulder.

"Keep going," she murmured. "It'll hurt more if you stop now."

Michiru focused on the words, staring up at the blurry sky. Nazuna gripped her other hand, giving her something to ground her as she floated in pain.

"....ichiru. Michiru."

"Huh?" She pulled her gaze away from the shifting stars so she could look at Shirou's face.

"You still awake?" Nazuna asked. Her voice echoed in Michiru's ears, but she was just conscious enough to nod.

"We can't stay on the beach too long," Shirou said as he handed the leftover medical supplies to Marie. Michiru couldn't feel what he'd done to her side, but at the moment, she didn't mind. It was probably better that way. "Especially not with the smell of her blood on the beach."

“We can take my boat a few more miles down the beach, but I don’t want to be too far from the city.” Marie wiped the blood off her hands in the grass. “I’m going to need to refuel to make it to the next town, and that probably still isn’t safe enough for us to stay for longer than another refuel.”

“Let’s go then.” Shirou got to his feet, but paused and turned to make sure Nazuna could help Michiru up and into the boat. Michiru stumbled along beside her friend, plopping down on one of the seats when she could.

“Try not to get blood on the seats,” Marie sighed. Michiru dropped her chin against her chest in a tired motion, not making it clear she’d even heard Marie’s exasperated murmur.

The engine hummed as Marie moved away from the beach and out further into the ocean. Nazuna held one arm around Michiru’s waist to keep her sitting up. When she started to nod off, Shirou tugged at her ear until she jerked awake again.

She lifted her head at the third tug, realizing even trying to fall asleep was futile around the wolf, and instead turned her somewhat blurry vision to the back end of the boat. Gem was sitting with one wing wrapped around Melissa’s shoulders. Behind them was the charred remains of Anima-City.

Despite the burning having stopped well over a day ago, the air still held the smoke’s acrid taste. Mixed with the smell of sea salt, it left a sticky feeling in the back of Michiru’s throat.

Nazuna squeezed Michiru a bit when her gaze followed the tanuki’s. “... it’s gone,” she managed quietly into the night.

Michiru glanced up at Shirou. He was staring off in a different direction so that Michiru couldn’t see his face, and he couldn’t see the remains of the city. She slowly reached out and wrapped her fingers around Shirou’s stiff hand.

After a brief moment, he wrapped his fingers around her paw in return, squeezing it firmly. He still wouldn’t look at her, but she could live with that.


End file.
